Paul J. De Muniz (born June 8, 1947) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

judge in the state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. He is the first

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Chief Justice in the history of the

Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Oregon Court of Appeals for ten years.

Early life

Born on June 8, 1947, in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, De Muniz's family lived there until Paul turned six when the family relocated to

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. In Portland, he attended Harvey Scott Elementary in the Roseway Neighborhood and graduated from Madison High School in Northeast Portland. After graduating from high school in 1965 De Muniz served time in the

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, including time in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

during the war. De Muniz enrolled at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1972. He completed his education in 1975 after graduating from

Willamette University College of Law Willamette University College of Law is the law school of Willamette University. Located in Salem, Oregon, and founded in 1883, Willamette is the oldest law school in the Pacific Northwest. It has approximately 24 full-time law professors and e ...

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with a JD. At Willamette he was an associate editor of the school's

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publication.

Legal career

After law school, De Muniz began a public legal career as a state deputy

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

and later as a special prosecutor for

Douglas County, Oregon Douglas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 111,201. The county seat is Roseburg. The county is named after Stephen A. Douglas, an American politician who supported Orego ...

. He also was in private practice in Salem at the firm of Garrett, Seideman, Hemann, Robertson & De Muniz. While in private practice, De Muniz was the primary attorney responsible for working to overturn the conviction of

Santiago Ventura Morales Santiago Ventura Morales (born 1968 ) is a Mexican social worker in the state of Oregon. Born in Mexico, he was falsely convicted of murder in Oregon in 1986. The conviction drew national attention when some jurors worked to overturn the convictio ...

’ murder conviction. Morales, a migrant farm worker from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, was convicted in 1986 of killing a fellow farm worker. He was only given a Spanish interpreter to assist in the language barrier, however his primary language was

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

. On appeal it was shown that Morales was not the killer and he was released in a national watched incident. After release Morales was given a

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to the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

and graduated with a degree in social work. In 1990, De Muniz was appointed to Oregon Court of Appeals by Oregon's governor, and then won election to a full six-year term on the court in November of that year. He served on the Court of Appeals from 1990 to 2000, when in 2000 he was elected to the Oregon Supreme Court to fill an open seat on the court vacated when

George Van Hoomissen George Albert Van Hoomissen (born March 7, 1930) is an American attorney in the state of Oregon. He previously served as the 87th justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and previously served as a judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals. The Portland, ...

retired.Oregon Blue Book: Earliest Authorities in Oregon - Supreme Court Justices of Oregon.
Oregon Secretary of State. Retrieved March 10, 2007. De Muniz' term began in 2001 when he became the state's first Latino Supreme Court justice, and in 2006 he was elected chief justice.Green, Ashbel. De Muniz will lead high court. ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', November 3, 2005. Upon joining the court, he became the first Latino member in the court's history. In November 2005, he was unanimously elected by his fellow court members to a six-year term as chief justice to replace

Wallace P. Carson, Jr. Wallace P. Carson Jr. (born June 10, 1934) is an American attorney and politician from Oregon. He has spent time in both of Oregon's legislative branches and served on the Oregon Supreme Court for 24 years. Carson's fourteen-year tenure as chief ...

who vacated the top position on the court. De Muniz announced in October 2011 that he would not run for re-election in 2012 and would leave at the end of his term in January 2013.

Consulting work

De Muniz registered as an insurance industry lobbyist five months after his retirement from the bench. In November 2014, he was hired by a group of Chicago-area academics who had won a contract to monitor settlement of the ''United States v. City of Portland'' case. After considerable public criticism De Muniz resigned the position in April 2015.

Other

Paul De Muniz is an adjunct professor of law at

where he was mentor of the year in 1997. He previously taught at the National Judicial College in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. He is married to Mary and has three children; Carrie, Peter and Michael. De Muniz has chaired the Sakhalin/Oregon Rule of Law partnership and served on the Judicial Fitness and Disability Commission, the

Oregon State Bar The Oregon State Bar Association (OSBA) is a public corporation and instrumentality of the Oregon Judicial Department in the U.S. state of Oregon. Founded in 1890 as the private Oregon Bar Association, it became a public entity in 1935 that regulat ...

's Board of Bar Examiners, the Supreme Court Access to Justice for All Committee, and the Oregon Criminal Justice Council.

Works authored

*''A Practical Guide to Oregon Criminal Procedure and Practice'', Templeton Press, 2005. *"Eroding the Public’s Confidence in Judicial Impartiality: First Amendment Federal Jurisprudence and Special Interest Financing of Judicial Campaigns", 67 ''Albany Law Review'' 763, 2004. *"Politicizing State Judicial Elections: A Threat to Judicial Independence", 38 ''

Willamette Law Review The ''Willamette Law Review'' is a law review academic journal published by Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1959 as a successor to an earlier publication, the triannual publication is housed in the ...

'' 367, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Muniz, Paul 1947 births Living people 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges Chief Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Hispanic and Latino American judges Hispanic and Latino American politicians Justices of the Oregon Supreme Court Leodis V. McDaniel High School alumni Oregon Court of Appeals judges People from Glendale, California Portland State University alumni Public defenders Willamette University College of Law alumni Willamette University College of Law faculty